Alma Clayton-Pedersen

Dr. Clayton-Pedersen is CEO of Emeritus Consulting Group, a Chicago-based firm that uses organizational development principles to assist nonprofit, public, and education entities in enhancing their efficacy for the public good. Her storied career also includes roles as Vice President for Education and Institutional Renewal and Senior Scholar for the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U). She directed AAC&U’s partnership with the Pathways to College Network, which focuses on college access and success for underserved students. At Vanderbilt University, Clayton-Pedersen served in senior administrative roles within student affairs, academic affairs, athletic affairs, and Vanderbilt’s public policy center. She also served as a research associate and an assistant professor of the practice in human and organizational development.

During her nearly 35-year career in education, Dr. Clayton-Pedersen has directed projects funded by the BellSouth, Ford, George Gund, James Irvine, and Lumina Foundations, as well as the Carnegie Corp of New York, the Lilly Endowment, the Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE), the National Science Foundation and the Metropolitan Nashville Government. She served as Secretary of the Unite Way of Middle Tennessee and Vice Chair of Metro Nashville Social Service Commission and has consulted on higher education in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and China.